Felix Auger-Aliassime booked his place in a second ATP Tour final of 2019 on Friday evening after coming through a hard-fought 2-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 victory against top-seeded Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili in two hours and 16 minutes at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon.

The 19-year-old Auger-Aliassime, who also beat Basilashvili at the Miami Open presented by Itau in March, will now play Benoit Paire of France in Saturday’s final at the ATP 250 tournament. It will be a first-time FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting. Auger-Aliassime lost to Laslo Djere on 24 February in the Rio Open presented by Claro final .

Basilashvili took control immediately, storming through the first set with two service breaks in 27 minutes, but the World No. 18 was unable to convert three break points on Auger-Aliassime’s serve at 4-4 in the second set. The Canadian later broke clear from 3/3 in the tie-break.

Auger-Aliassime saved two break points at 2-3 in the decider and grew in confidence when Basilashvili struck consecutive backhand errors in the seventh game. Auger-Aliassime finished his 20th match win of the year with his 12th ace. Basilashvili, who is left to rue converting only two of nine break point chances, is now 14-12 on the season.

Earlier in the day, Paire blasted his way into his seventh ATP Tour final. The 30-year-old struck 10 aces and won 33 of 34 first-service points to overcome American Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-2 in 65 minutes.

Paire, who is 2-4 in ATP Tour finals, lifted trophies at the 2015 Swedish Open (d. Robredo) and the Grand Prix Hassan II at Marrakech (d. Andujar) in March this year.

Dodig/Roger-Vasselin Advance To Lyon Doubles Final
Ivan Dodig and Edouard Roger-Vasselin will attempt to capture their second team trophy of the season after the second seeds swept past fourth seeds Luke Bambridge and Jonny O’Mara 6-1, 6-2 in 52 minutes.

This year’s Open Sud de France titlists will next challenge another all-British team, third-seeded brothers Ken Skupski and Neal Skupski, in Saturday’s final. The Skupskis are 3-5 in team finals, including victory last month at the Hungarian Open.

The ATP and the Laver Cup announced today an agreement that will make the annual men’s team event, in which Europe takes on the rest of the world, an official part of the annual ATP Tour calendar.

The agreement gives the event, now approaching its third competition in Geneva, Switzerland this September, access to ATP services, including marketing and social media, along with operational personnel such as officials and physios.

“The Laver Cup team is incredibly excited about this partnership with the ATP. It has always been our hope to build the Laver Cup in partnership with the tennis world, and certification by the ATP after only two editions is an overwhelming validation of our vision,” said Tony Godsick, President and CEO of TEAM8, and Chairman of the Laver Cup.

“We created the Laver Cup to celebrate the greats of the game – past, present and future – and grow interest in our great sport of tennis,” Godsick added. “Partnering with the ATP positions us to continue to achieve that mission and reach even greater audiences.”

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President, said that the reception by tennis fans globally was a major factor in the ATP’s wish to form a partnership.

“The Laver Cup has struck a chord with fans worldwide in a very short time,” said Kermode. “It’s been great to see the passionate participation of the players and the response from the fans at the sold-out events in Prague and Chicago. This event has great potential to reach new fans around the world, and all of us at the ATP are excited to include the Laver Cup as an official part of the ATP Tour calendar and have it featured alongside other tournaments on all our platforms.”

Roger Federer, a partner in TEAM8 who tasked his team with creating the Laver Cup to honour not just the great Rod Laver, but the coterie of tennis legends who paved the way for the success of the current game, said he was delighted with the news.

“As I come closer to the end of my playing career, it’s wonderful to know that the Laver Cup will be part of the tour that I’ve dedicated more than 20 years of my life to. This partnership is a wonderful example of how the tennis family can unite to promote and grow the sport we all love.”

Currently celebrating the 50th anniversary of winning the ‘Grand Slam’ for the second time in 1969, Rod Laver praised the ATP’s official endorsement of his namesake event which has further cemented his legacy.

“I am grateful to the ATP for recognising that the Laver Cup plays an important role in raising awareness of the amateur era of tennis and my fellow ‘barnstormers”. I am honoured and thankful for what has been achieved and to Roger for doing this for us,” said Laver.

The values of the Laver Cup – commitment to excellence, focus on the team, respect for the opponent, and love for the game – has been embodied by the two inaugural captains, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe.

“Anyone who has seen the Laver Cup knows this is an event that everyone had to get behind. I am proud to have been a part of its genesis, and thankful to the ATP for choosing to endorse it,” said McEnroe.

“The Laver Cup is my favourite week of the year,” said Borg. “I have enjoyed working with all the generations of players and being in front of the fans once again.”

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who played the second Laver Cup last year in Chicago, said, “The Laver Cup is a true celebration of tennis that is loved by the fans and embraced by the players. I experienced it first hand as a player, and as President of the ATP Player Council I’m proud to support this collaboration.”

ATP Tournament Board Representative Charles Humphrey Smith said, “The Laver Cup showcases the world’s greatest male tennis players in a whole new way. It grows interest in the game which benefits all of us in the industry.”

The third edition of the Laver Cup will be held in Geneva, Switzerland from 20-22 September 2019. Register at LaverCup.com for more information and to receive regular updates.

#NextGenATP German Rudolf Molleker is two-for-two.

The 18-year-old qualified for his second Grand Slam main draw on his second attempt Thursday, defeating Colombian veteran Santiago Giraldo 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 at Roland Garros.

“It is super-tough to qualify. These are the best players in the world playing from World No.100 to the Top 250,” Molleker told RolandGarros.com. “The standard is so high, so to win three matches in a row is super-hard.”

Molleker, who also qualified at the Australian Open before falling to Argentine Diego Schwartzman in the main draw. Against Giraldo, who competed in the main draw at the year’s second Grand Slam every season from 2007-18, Molleker hit 35 winners and broke serve five times.

Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez will contest the main draw in Paris for the 16th consecutive year after coming back to defeat German Oscar Otte 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 in one hour and 45 minutes. Garcia-Lopez reached the fourth round here in 2014, upsetting Stan Wawrinka in the first round. 

Two Italians will make their Roland Garros main draw debuts, as Stefano Travaglia and Salvator Caruso moved through. Travaglia defeated Belgian Steve Darcis 7-6(3), 6-3, while Caruso battled past German Dustin Brown 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. 

Also moving into the main draw were Germans Yannick Maden and Yannick Hanfmann, Belgian Kimmer Coppejans and Russian Alexey Vatutin. Eight more players will qualify on Friday.

Rafael Nadal has long dominated the Parisian terre battue at Roland Garros, lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires 11 times and tallying an 86-2 record. Fresh off a triumph at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, Nadal arrives at the year’s second Grand Slam with plenty of momentum.

But the second seed is not as overwhelming of a favourite as usual, having taken until last week to capture his first title of the year, his longest trophy drought to start a season since 2004, when he earned his maiden tour-level crown. Nadal was beaten in the semi-finals at Monte-Carlo (l. to Fognini), Barcelona (l. to Thiem) and Madrid (l. to Tsitsipas).

So Nadal’s chase for a 12th title will not be easy, even if a big part of the battle some of Nadal’s biggest potential challengers will face is setting a clash against the Spaniard. ATPTour.com examines those who could pose the biggest threat to the lefty mano a mano if they do play in the coming fortnight: 

Novak Djokovic
Djokovic has all the motivation he needs entering Roland Garros, as the Serbian could win his fourth consecutive Grand Slam, becoming just the second player to accomplish that feat twice (also Rod Laver, who completed two calendar-year Grand Slams). While Nadal defeated Djokovic in three sets in the Rome final, the World No. 1 has plenty of reason to feel confident if they meet in the Roland Garros final for the third time (Nadal won on both occasions).

Despite losing at the Foro Italico, Djokovic has won nine of their previous 12 meetings, and he leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 28-26. Djokovic also spent two hours and 12 minutes more than Nadal on the court to reach the final in the Italian capital, with no day of rest before battling for the trophy, and he still pushed Nadal to three sets. That could give him confidence leading into the year’s second major.

Dominic Thiem
Thiem has earned a clay-court win against Nadal in three consecutive years. During that span, Nadal has lost just two additional clay-court matches, both of which came this year: against Fabio Fognini in Monte-Carlo and Stefanos Tsitsipas in Barcelona. So Thiem has proven he is capable of challenging Nadal if they meet for the trophy.

The Austrian’s overwhelming weight of shot could push Nadal back and keep the lefty from playing aggressively. Although Thiem could not mount much of a challenge in last year’s Roland Garros final against Nadal, he showed his ability to do so in a best-of-five set format at the US Open, battling the Spaniard for four hours and 49 minutes, forcing Nadal to find his very best tennis in a final-set tie-break.

Stefanos Tsitsipas
Tsitsipas is one of just three players who has defeated Nadal on clay in the past three years, and the pair could potentially meet in the semi-finals. A year ago, Tsitsipas lost in the second round in Paris as the World No. 39. But now, the reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion is on the verge of cracking the Top 5, and he carries an ATP Tour-leading 29 wins in 2019 into the clay-court major.

The 20-year-old Greek star was unafraid of taking the ball early against Nadal, frequently venturing to the net in their semi-final at Madrid. Even though he lost to the nine-time champion in Rome, Tsitsipas did not feel out of his element.

“I just felt comfortable playing. I didn’t feel much annoyed playing him on clay these two matches, which I guess is good,” Tsitsipas said. “Today I felt very close, despite the two-set loss.”

Roger Federer
This may be Federer’s first Roland Garros in four years, but you can never count out a 20-time Grand Slam champion, especially since the 37-year-old Swiss showed good form in his return to clay. Federer reached the quarter-finals in both Madrid and Rome, but his only loss came after holding match points against Thiem in Madrid. In Rome, Federer withdrew before facing Tsitsipas.

While they have not played one another since 2017, Federer has won five straight against Nadal in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry (Nadal leads 23-15), including seven sets in a row. Federer, a 101-time tour-level champion, has not beaten Nadal on clay since 2009 Madrid, but Nadal being the favourite may free the World No. 3 up to go for broke and spring an upset. This will also be their first clay-court match since Federer switched to a racquet with a bigger head, reducing his number of shanks.

Juan Martin del Potro
This may be only Del Potro’s fourth tournament of the season as he continues to come back from a knee injury, but the ‘Tower of Tandil’ has shown that he is not too rusty. In Rome, Del Potro held two match points against World No. 1 Djokovic before ultimately succumbing in a hard-fought three-hour, one-minute battle.

More important than winning or losing that match was the Argentine’s level. Del Potro’s massive forehand will always be a tremendous weapon regardless of his opponent. And he showed no apprehension in hitting through his two-handed backhand against Djokovic, which would be key against Nadal, who would attack crosscourt with his heavy forehand. The biggest challenge would be for Del Potro to reach the final, first, but when he is on his game, he can test anyone on any day, even Nadal in Paris.